BELLINGHAM - Mayor Dan Pike and challenger Kelli Linville discussed the coal port proposal, waterfront redevelopment and the Chuckanut Ridge land purchase during a Wednesday, Oct. 26, debate before the Bellingham City Club.

Pike supporters provided the audience campaign literature touting his opposition to SSA Marine’s proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal project at Cherry Point — which would mean trains loaded with coal moving through Bellingham on their way to the pier for shipment to Asia.

Two questioners in the audience challenged Linville on the issue, suggesting that her stance on the project is not clear.

She contended that her position has not changed since the project was unveiled.

"I have never supported a coal pier at Cherry Point," Linville said. "I have never supported exporting coal. ... I supported a multipurpose pier that does not ship coal. I don't know how much clearer I can be."

She argued that she held the same position months ago, at a time when Pike was still discussing the routing of coal trains to the terminal via a little-used South Fork rail line to keep them away from Bellingham.

"I'm glad he (Pike) changed his mind," Linville said. "I'm glad he doesn't support a coal terminal now."

She asked why Pike didn't propose a City Council resolution in opposition to the project. Pike replied that he had asked the council to approve a public advisory vote, but a majority of the council was opposed.

Pike underlined his effort to rally the opposition of other mayors in cities along the rail route to Cherry Point.

One questioner asked Linville about the campaign contributions she got in 2010 from an SSA Marine subsidiary and from SSA spokesman Craig Cole, while she was mounting an unsuccessful effort to be re-elected to her 42nd District state House seat.

"I was running for the Legislature," Linville replied. "I was not running for mayor."

She added that she has not received any such contributions to her mayoral campaign.

Pike and Linville also jousted over the recent $8.2 million city purchase of the 82-acre Chuckanut Ridge property.

Linville criticized Pike for making the deal, which was unanimously approved by City Council, without getting a fresh city-sponsored appraisal of its value, and without any review by the Greenway and parks advisory boards.

She also said it was a mistake to pay for a portion of the purchase by borrowing more than $3 million from a Greenways endowment fund that is supposed to be used for parks maintenance.

"We probably weren't as hard-nosed as we could have been in purchasing this property," Linville said.

Pike noted that public acquisition of the wooded south Bellingham tract had been a cherished goal for many city residents for decades, and he welcomed the chance to get the job done and save the land from development. He noted that the city paid millions less than the assessed value, and millions less than Horizon Bank originally loaned on the property.

Washington Federal took over Horizon's loans when the Bellingham-based bank failed, and then acquired the property through foreclosure.

Linville also attacked the slow pace of progress in completing a master plan and development regulations to allow the city and Port of Bellingham to move ahead with redevelopment of the mostly vacant waterfront pulp-and-tissue mill site, and adjacent real estate.

Pike said the pace has been slow because when he took office four years ago he was convinced that the port's redevelopment plans for the waterfront were not in line with community wishes. He said port and city staffers are still working out those differences as they put the finishing touches on planning documents that will be submitted to the city Planning Commission and then to the council and the Port Commission.

Officials have said that formal process could start by the end of this year.

Linville said the process could have been started a year ago.

"I don't believe all the decisions have to be made before the public gets involved," she said.

Pike didn't buy it.

"Giving an incomplete draft to the Planning Commission ... would be a tremendous waste of everybody's time," he said.